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Short-tooth Whiptail Coelorinchus sereti Iwamoto & Merrett, 1997
[CAAB 37 232123]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Tropical Southwest Pacific Ocean, off New Caledonia, the Chesterfield and Bellona Plateaus, and Australia; bathydemersal on continental slope at 412-825 m.

Size:

To 45 cm TL.

Food and feeding:

Reported to feed on decapod crustaceans and lanternfishes (Famly Myctophidae).

Reproduction and early life history:

Characteristics:

D II, 9; P 17; V 7; GR (inner) 9; BR 6; PC
Snout relatively narrow, mouth gape wide, restricted at lateral angles by lip folds; teeth in bands in both jaws, upper jaw band short, broad, 5 or 6 teeth across, band in lower jaw long, narrow, 3 or 4 teeth across; chin barbel short, fine. Scales on top of snout and head with bladelike, erect spinules arranged in divergent rows; underside of head with small, almost non-imbricate scales having short, sharp, erect, bladelike spinules in crestlike divergent rows; broad naked margin in front and around sides of mouth, nasal fossa dotted with minute scales, each with few short, erect, conical to bladelike spinules. Body scales dorsally on trunk with broader, more reclined spinules in widely divergent rows. First dorsal fin short, much less than postrosbal length of head; second dorsal weakly developed, anal fin well-developed; pectoral and pelvic fins moderate, longest rays extending to about origin of anal fin. Broad, short dermal window of light organ immediately anterior to anus, anterior end at midpoint between anal- and pelvic-fin origins.

Colour:

In preservative - light sandy-brown, paler ventrally, somewhat darker dorsally on head; abdomen darker, periproct and light organ black; black lining of gill chamber showing through gill cover and branchiostegal membranes; mouth entirely black, lips generally pale with blackish streaks; membrane connecting premaxillary and maxillary black; barbel pale.

Similar species:

Fisheries:

Conservation Status:

Remarks:

Other common names:

Original citation:

Coelorinchus sereti Iwamoto  & Merrett 1997, Mém. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris 176: 505 figs a-a', New Caledonia, 22°18.65'S, 167°23.30'E.

Etymology:

References:

Iwamoto, T. & Merrett,  N.R. 1997. Pisces Gadiformes; Taxonomy of grenadiers of  the New Caledonian regions, southwest Pacific. Pp.473-570 In Crosnier, A. (ed.) Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM. Mém. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris 176: 1-570 [505 figs a-a'].